Fishing/Hunting Reports??

[Red Childress]

Did anyone catch or shoot anything over the weekend???

It was weird cleaning my house and watching the Fla/Bama game on Saturday and not being in my boat.....oh yea, I also played "house" with my daughters and their Barbie's. Please keep that to yourself.

[R Findlan]

Red,
Fished Friday after work before it got real cold. Caught a 28inch Pike on a Wabull and had about a 38-40" muskie chase the Wabull three times but wouldn't hit. I was using my Calcutta 400B which froze in about 15 minutes with freespool button engaged and the reel handle spinning, not engaging the reel. Having this problem before, I had also brought my wife's Avid 300AC which worked great for the rest of the evening or about 2 hours. The 300AC has really worked well in the could weather so I recently found an Avid 250 on the muskiefirst website which is being shipped to me this week. Do you know if the power handles for the 300 will fit the 250? My wife wants her reel back and I really like the power handle.

Thanks,
Reed

[Red Childress]

The handle should be interchangeable.......

Cool that you had some action out there. I have had some pretty good days out there while beating the side of my frozen reel to get it out of freespool.

I finally broke down and picked up a few oversized spinning reels to help get around the tough fishing of Jan-March. I will use them mainly for big jigs and rubber stuff.


Was that musky hot behind your bait or just a teaser????

[R Findlan]

Red,
The musky was just a teaser, moving really slow. The musky was most active while I let the bait sink towards the bottom. On the third follow I let the Wabull sink and sit on the bottom. The musky swam right over to it, within about an inch but then bolted away. In February I had a musky grab a baby shallow raider after I let it sink to the bottom. In the past three week I've had pretty good luck on the Wabull and Phantoms on the pause letting them sink. I think I've caught 8 musky this way, all small from 28-39 inches and a couple of Pike. I have also been thinking about switching to spinning reels for the really cold weather. What type of line do you use and what pound test? I've been using 100lb masterbraid from the summer but it really holds a lot of water causing a lot of expanding with the ice. I recently ordered some spiderwire ultracast 80lb for the avid 250.

Reed

[Red Childress]

The ultracast has been good for me so far this Fall.....reel majic is "great" when the air temps are in the teens to low 20's.......with wind over 5mph and below 15 degrees, it is real tough to accomplish much out there with a baitcaster.

I am spooled up with 100lb test so I can get most of my lures back from the bottom of the river plus I think it is easier to untangle knots with a larger diameter line when it is frozen.

[R Findlan]

Last winter I lost quite a few lures using 80lb spectron, but this year with 100lb I've just bent some hooks with no lost lures. Maybe I'll give the reelmagic a try also.
Thanks for the info.
Reed

[Red Childress]

Not sure if you read it or not but there is a thread on here about the best lines to use in winter or something like that........For me, the reel majic works best by following the outline I put in that thread........not just spraying it on a full spool and hoping for the best.

I also put my frozen reels in every nite and try to dry them out for the next morning.


Hope this helps.

[stushsky]

reed,
i can't speak for the freeze / non-freeze part but i switched to the ultracast the beginning of this year and really like it. i used power pro for years and can say i noticed the ultracast does hold much less water and unless i have "magically" become a true expert with my luna 300's, "professional over-runs" are pretty much non-existent compared to the power pro years...thank goodness...
stan

[Red Childress]

I agree.

I have noticed the Ultracast is a better line......much more quiet coming off the spool but the water absorption factor was the biggest selling point for me.

I wonder how the Suffix or Cortland lines do in regards to water absorption??


BTW.....maybe you are a professional "non-overrunner".

[stushsky]

red,
i'll give credit to the ultracast "line" just like a quarterback gives credit to the offensive "line"...

[JIM T]

Did anyone catch or shoot anything over the weekend???

It was weird cleaning my house and watching the Fla/Bama game on Saturday and not being in my boat.....oh yea, I also played "house" with my daughters and their Barbie's. Please keep that to yourself.

RED,were you playing house with the kids or with mommy ? just to let you know,took Travis out for deer after school on friday,29 does in front of us and about 4:50 pm he shot his first buck,a nice 8 point,at about 200 yds.New boat should be getting deck addition fabricated about now,most everything else is done.Sure would be nice to be able to give my wife a new boat for christmas!! keep in touch,have a MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!! JIM T

[JIM T]

My god guys ,100 lb+ test !! I know i am new to musky but i have caught a lot of big-big salt water fish that have big balls and i have not used that heavy of a line.ok, this is just some new guy that has not been slapped in the face yet.

[Red Childress]

JT,

The 100lb. test is NOT for the fish. Since most of the muskies during the cold water period will be hugging the bottom and moving much slower than they do in water over 45 degrees, getting baits right in their faces is much more important now. Catching snags is a by-product of this and getting our 20-40 dollar baits back is greatly increased by using the beefier line.

Merry Christmas to you as well. I hope your wife likes "her" new boat!